Fish Tank

Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Katie Jarvis, Kierston Wareing and Michael Fassbender
Releasing in cinemas: 27 May 2010
Rated: MA 15+

You could say Fish Tank is England’s answer to Precious, a gutsy look at London’s outer suburban misery. On the positive side, it’s superbly acted and totally realistic with the most convincing street dialogue heard in a long time. Even more down-to-earth grotty than Precious it plays out like a documentary with cinema verite camera style; and eclipses many excursions into social effects of abject poverty through the energetic performance of Katie Jarvis.

We meet angry Mia (Jarvis), a tough 15-year-old, as she wildly head-butts her way into the movie by giving lip to some other kids on the way home - a desolate apartment of decaying furniture in a grim Essex housing project set in miserable wastelands.

Mia shares the pad with her immature sluttish mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and out-of-control younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths). Mia’s passion for hip-hop dancing provides her escape from the suburban mayhem. Alcohol helps dull the pain of a hopeless family life. Joanne, desperate to stay young, has procession of boozy live-in boyfriends, the latest being 30-something Conner (Michael Fassbender).

Mia is alienated from her friends and school, and is aggro towards social workers and her mother. She plans to release an aging white horse chained up in a nearby trailer park, reflecting her own need for liberation. Joanne’s drunken parties at the apartment lead to Conner and Mia making out one beer-soaked night - let’s face it, there’s little else in the fridge. Mia seduces the sozzled Conner, or is it the other way round? However their furtive coupling sets in motion a chain of disastrous events beyond their imagination.

The film is directed by the talented Andrea Arnold (Red Road) with an almost vicious determination to throw us into the distressing world of a teenage rebel in a disintegrating society. There’s no easy way off the hook, not a shred of sentimentality, just the hard-edged truth of the lifestyle with its clipped slang, steamy sex, and dispiriting locations. It’s so in-your-face it might shake out some viewers. Arnold’s films effectively deal with stories of the underclass and broken relationships, with the sneaking suggestion that illicit sex is the most exciting.

Katie Jarvis’ feisty reading of ‘chip-on-the-shoulder’ Mia verges on extraordinary. The story goes Jarvis was discovered by the director at a railway station fighting with her boyfriend, and this is her first movie appearance. She certainly brings an element of authenticity to the role with startling realism. Her curiously natural dance movements have a fascination at odds with her street tough attitude. Jarvis’ total immersion in the part is impressive to watch. She makes the film her own.

Michael Fassbender (Hunger) plays a difficult role. Conner at first seems a likable enough bloke, with a genuine interest in Mia’s welfare. We can’t be sure his dubious intimacy with a 15-year-old girl is all his fault. He may have pedophile tendencies, but Mia seductively encourages Conner in the steamy confined atmosphere of the apartment shared with her hopeless mother. Fassbender manages to balance out his character in a complex performance.

Kierston Wareing as Joanna deserves praise too, managing in a late scene a moment of warmth in the otherwise selfish and immature character. This can be equally said of young Rebecca Griffith with surprising depth to her cacophonic part.

The soundtrack pulls out all stops from hip-hop music to heavy breathing. Hand-held camera can annoy, yet here it’s intelligently used and at times frames impressive compositions. Fish Tank doesn’t come under the banner of light entertainment; it hits hard with moments which might shock the squeamish. A tour de force of its type, it’s recommended for art house audiences.

John Bale